ame which can attach to Omer Pacha is a want of judgement, caused
by over-zeal for the interests of his government. The case was
afterwards litigated, and the Porte was mulcted 200,000 florins as an
indemnity for their breach of the contract. This was liquidated from Ali
Pacha's property, and the firman has been renewed for fourteen years
since 1859. The Austrian government has, however, forbidden the Company
to avail themselves of it, as its members are engaged in legal
proceedings. The only saw-mill which I met with in the country was one
at Boona, worked by an Hungarian, who is apparently doing a lucrative
business.

The rivers in the country are of no great size or importance, but might
in most cases be turned to account for the transport of timber or for
irrigation. The waters of some of the large rivers, it is true, are
injurious to vegetation from their hardness, but this does not apply to
all. After the Narenta, the following are the most important:--the
Trebenitza, Pria, Taro and Moratcha, Yanitza, Boona, Boonitza, Bregava,
Kruppa, Trebisat or Trebitza, Drechnitza, Grabovitza, Biela,
Kaladjin-Polok, and the Drina. It might be expected from its vicinity to
Bulgaria, where such fine lakes are found, that the same would be the
case in Herzegovina; but it is not so: Blato, which is marked as a lake
in all maps, is only such in winter, as with early spring the waters
disappear.

The only towns in the province worthy of mention, besides Mostar, are
Fochia and Taschlijeh. They each contain about 10,000 inhabitants. The
other towns are nothing more than large villages, with a bazaar. They
are the seats of the district governments, such as Stolatz, Trebigne,
Konitza, Niksich, Duvno, Chainitza, and others. The houses in these are
not conspicuous for cleanliness, while those in the smaller villages are
still less desirable as residences. They generally consist of some
scores of huts, built of rough stones, without windows or chimneys, and
roofed with boards, which are again covered with straw. They seldom
contain more than one room, which the family occupies, in conjunction
with the poultry and domestic animals. The furniture of these luxurious
abodes consists of a hand-loom, two or three iron pots, a few earthen
vessels, and some wooden spoons. The bedding is a coarse woollen
blanket, which serves as a cloak in rainy or wet weather, and as a
mattress and coverlet for the whole family, without distinction of sex.

The